New credit cards aim to protect consumers, banks from hackers

US consumers are about to get a new defense against cybercrime. The armor will take the form of credit and debit cards with a built-in chip, which retailers must be able to read as of Thursday.

Short for EuroPay, MasterCard and Visa, EMV chips create a one-time-use code needed for each purchase, which makes stolen card numbers less valuable on the black market. Consumers may see slightly longer transaction times as in-store readers run the EMV cards, assuming merchants have set up the new payment terminals in time.

Industry watchers don't expect every merchant to meet Thursday's deadline, which was set last year by MasterCard, Visa, Discover and American Express. Retailers do have an incentive to act quickly, though. Stores that don't have EMV-reading terminals will need to make good on in-store purchases made with counterfeit cards. ATMs and gas pumps will face the same liabilities in 2017.
The card companies wrote that rule after cybercriminals stole about 40 million credit and debit card numbers from the payment system of retailer Target during the 2013 holiday-shopping season. 

Currently, the banks that issue cards are on the hook for fraudulent charges.
There are two ways hackers steal sensitive information. They can use card skimmers to read a card's magnetic stripe at an ATM or gas pump. They can also penetrate retailers' corporate information systems, as they have with Target, Home Depot, Neiman Marcus and many others, to copy card numbers. Those stolen numbers can be used on fake cards to make fraudulent purchases. Two-thirds of fraudulent purchases inside stores are made with counterfeit cards, said Stephanie Ericksen, Visa's vice president of risk products. Authentic cards that were stolen account for the other third.

That's where these new chip cards can help. Because the chips send encrypted, one-time codes for each transaction, the cards are harder for fraudsters to read and duplicate, experts say. While the cards are just rolling out in the US, the technology isn't new. Europe started using cards with embedded chips in 2005. Apple Pay and Android Pay mobile payments work on the same underlying rules.

Despite the impending retailer deadline, many consumers still don't know about the new kinds of cards. In an August survey by electronic payments company ACI Worldwide, 59 percent of consumers reported they hadn't received credit cards with EMV chips. Only a third knew the United States is shifting toward chip readers. What's more, only 27 percent of merchants are prepared for the October deadline for card reader technology, according to a report released in mid-September by the Strawhecker Group, a consulting firm for the payments industry.

 Experts say the slow rollout could be due to the cost of new card-reading equipment. Merchants must weigh the expense of buying new payment systems and training employees on that gear against the unknown hit from fraudulent charges. Some may even consider their new liabilities the cost of doing business.

Consumers will need to adapt to the new system too, experts said.

"There may be some initial inconvenience at the point of sale," said TJ Horan, vice president of product management at FICO, which helps banks determine a consumer's credit risk.
Despite the increased security, industry watchers don't expect card fraud to disappear. Horan likens it to squeezing a water balloon: If you push fraud out of the system in one place, it will simply shift somewhere else.

With V10 smartphone, LG aims to build a franchise to rival iPhone 6S Plus

LG's family tree of smartphones just gained another branch.

The South Korean electronics conglomerate on Thursday showed off the V10, a smartphone with a unique, secondary ticker screen atop the main display that shows commonly used apps, weather information and time. It also sports a pair of front-facing cameras for higher-quality selfie photos.
More important than any specific feature found on the V10 are LG's ambitions for the smartphone as the foundation of a new franchise. The company said it is already planning a sequel device next year and believes the larger screen will give consumers another premium alternative to the iPhone 6S Plus and Galaxy Note 5.

"This is the beginning of a new series," Ramchan Woo, vice president of product strategy for LG, said in a roundtable session with media.

The V10 with its 5.7-inch screen marks a more concerted effort by LG to build a competitive phablet, a category of larger handsets that look like a cross between a phone and a tablet. It's a market that has grown, thanks in part to Samsung and its Galaxy Note franchise. While Apple doesn't break out specific model sales, the addition of the iPhone 6 Plus with its 5.5-inch screen helped turned last year's generation of iPhones into the company's best-seller of all time.

LG is hoping for some of the interest in phablets to rub off on the company.

The brand challenge

Where Samsung and Apple both extended their well-known brands to their phablet lines, LG has opted to create a new brand altogether.

"I can't think of another major vendor with a flagship line and a premium materials line," said Ross Rubin, an analyst at Reticule Research.

LG executives debated whether to stick with the G brand, which it uses for its flagship G4 and its G

Flex 2 smartphones, or try something different, Woo said. It chose to go with V10 to create a product without ties to the rest of its portfolio. It also wanted a number that was higher than four (as in G4), Woo said in a follow-up interview.

Amazon to stop selling Google Chromecast, Apple TV

Amazon is banning sales of Apple and Google video-streaming devices on its site, in a potential effort to outmaneuver two main competitors.

The world's largest online retailer sent an email to its marketplace sellers, saying it will stop offering Apple TV and Google's Chromecast, according to a Bloomberg report. No new listings will be allowed and all inventory will be removed October 29.

An Amazon spokesperson said the change had to do with its Prime Video service, which isn't easily available on the Apple and Google devices.

"Over the last three years, Prime Video has become an important part of Prime," an Amazon spokesperson said Thursday in an email to CNET. "It's important that the streaming-media players we sell interact well with Prime Video in order to avoid customer confusion."

The new ban comes just ahead of the holiday season, when retailers make most of their money. In anticipation of all that purchasing, Apple and Google last month updated their video-streaming devices, as did Amazon, which makes a family of streaming gadgets under the moniker Fire TV.
Amazon's ban on Chromecasts is global and includes all Chromecast devices, including older-generation models, according to a personal familiar with the matter. Google's Nexus Player video-streaming box will also be removed from Amazon's site.

The move underscores Amazon's dedication to nurturing its homegrown hardware as well as its Prime $99-a-year premium membership program, even at the expense of e-commerce sales. Prime Video, Amazon's rival to Netflix, is an arm of Prime that lets members stream as much as they like from a set catalog of video. The company has been dedicating more resources to Prime Video, sealing deals for top content like HBO original series and funneling investment to its own TV shows, like Emmy-winning comedy "Transparent."

Banning the Google and Apple streaming-media devices means Amazon will be eliminating two of the most popular electronics in its online store. Google's Chromecast is routinely on Amazon's Top 10 ranking for best-selling electronics. On Thursday, it was No. 6 and the first non-Amazon device on the list. Apple TV is the 16th most popular device Amazon sells.

The Amazon spokesperson said Roku's streaming player, Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's PlayStation, along with Amazon's own Fire TV, "are excellent choices" -- referencing that these devices won't be affected by the change.

A representative for Apple didn't respond to a request for comment.
According to researcher eMarketer, connected game consoles -- like the Xbox and PlayStation -- have the most US connected-TV users, with nearly 52 million this year. Further down the list, Chromecast and Roku both have nearly 23 million users and Apple TV has about 18 million. 

Amazon's Fire TV didn't make the cut for being in the top six.

Every Android device is vulnerable to newly discovered bugs

Two major vulnerabilities have been discovered in Google's Android mobile software by the same security company that found a whole series of dangerous bugs earlier this year. Several of the bugs discovered by the security researchers pose a danger to every active Android device out there.
The two new bugs, which can expose people with Android-powered smartphones and tablets to attacks by malicious hackers, are the latest in a "library" of vulnerabilities that have come to be known as Stagefright. Zimperium zLabs initially discovered this class of vulnerabilities in April, but has now found the problem is broader than originally thought.

More than a billion Android smartphones and tablets are at risk of being compromised by the new bugs if their owners even just preview video or audio files that have been specially crafted to exploit the vulnerability, zLabs said. The first of the bugs has the potential to impact almost every Android device going back to version 1.0 of the software, which was released in 2008. The second bug can be used to target all devices running later versions of Google's software, Android 5.0 and up. Google next week plans to release Android 6.0, aka Marshmallow.

Security holes are a serious problem. Depending on the severity, they can let attackers run programs of their own choosing on a computing device, gain access to sensitive documents, monitor network traffic, listen to keyboard activity, turn on a webcam or turn a computing device into a tool that launches attacks on other devices.

Google, based in Mountain View, California, tries to set a good Android example with prompt security updates to its Nexus family of devices, including the just-announced Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X that will come with Marshmallow. But compared to Apple's competing iOS operating system, which powers its iPhones and iPads, the Android market is more vulnerable to security holes.

That's because the vast majority of Android phones get software updates slowly, if ever. That's the case even with mainstream Android phone makers such as Samsung, Huawei, Sony and LG, each of which is responsible for software updates. However, some Android security problems are ameliorated by the fact that some Android components ship in a package called Google Play Services that Google itself updates.

Google told Motherboard it will issue a patch to Nexus users on October 5.
These particular Stagefright flaws would require hackers to trick Android users into opening a dodgy video or audio file within a website or third-party multimedia player. "The vulnerability lies in the processing of metadata within the files, so merely previewing the song or video would trigger the issue," zLabs said in its blog post.

zLabs informed Google of the latest Stagefright flaws on August 15 and has praised the company for responding promptly to the threat. A patch to fix the vulnerability will be released next week in an over-the-air update. Google pushes out these security updates to its flagship Nexus devices once a month.

Google said it shared details of the patch with Android device makers on September 10 in the hope that it can be pushed out to all Android users as soon as possible, according to Motherboard.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The new Stagefright bugs likely aren't the last. In September, zLabs researcher Joshua Drake tweeted that he's reported 10 Stagefright vulnerabilities to Google.

Spider bites man on plane; his leg 'bursts open'

A British attorney is suing Qatar Airways after a spider bite he received on a flight in South Africa nearly cost him his leg.

The flesh-eating venom from a brown recluse spider whose bite caused a "small, sharp pain" turned barrister John Hogg's leg black.

Initially, he didn't think much of the injury.

"I turned on the light and clearly saw a spider running across the floor before hearing two stewardesses screaming 'Spider!', but I wasn't sure if I had been bitten as it really wasn't very painful," Hogg told the Telegraph.

But the next day his leg swelled up like a sausage and  turned black. He needed immediate medical attention.

By the time he reached a hospital, the leg was "bursting open" with pus.

Doctors were able to save the limb, but Hogg had to undergo three operations and a skin graft. An avid kickboxer and soccer player, he fears he may never play his sports again.

A British attorney is suing Qatar Airways after a spider bite he received on a flight in South Africa nearly cost him his leg.

The flesh-eating venom from a brown recluse spider whose bite caused a "small, sharp pain" turned barrister John Hogg's leg black.
Initially, he didn't think much of the injury.

"I turned on the light and clearly saw a spider running across the floor before hearing two stewardesses screaming 'Spider!', but I wasn't sure if I had been bitten as it really wasn't very painful," Hogg told the Telegraph.

But the next day his leg swelled up like a sausage and  turned black. He needed immediate medical attention.

By the time he reached a hospital, the leg was "bursting open" with pus.
Doctors were able to save the limb, but Hogg had to undergo three operations and a skin graft. An avid kickboxer and soccer player, he fears he may never play his sports again.

"It was a right mess. They told me if I had been any later I would have lost my leg or even died. It was terrifying," the 40-year-old lawyer said.

The Telegraph included a gruesome photo of the wound. Those with strong stomachs can see it here.
Hogg, on an extended vacation from work, had volunteered at an orangutan sanctuary in Borneo before traveling to South Africa in June to dive with sharks.

He says Qatar Airways has refused to accept responsibility for the spider bite.
Recluse spiders, which have six eyes and a violin marking on their back, can be found around the world, including in the United States. The spider's venom is potentially deadly, but it usually bites only when pressed against the skin, such as when tangled within clothes or bedding.

Indian man lynched over beef rumours

A 50-year-old man in northern India has been killed in a mob lynching allegedly over rumours that his family had been storing and consuming beef at home.

Mohammad Akhlaq was kicked and beaten with stones by a group of men in Dadri in Uttar Pradesh state on Monday night.

Mr Akhlaq's 22-year-old son was also seriously injured in the attack, and has been admitted to a hospital.

Six people have been arrested in connection with the incident. Police are probing who spread the rumour.

Slaughter of cows is a sensitive issue in India as the animal is considered sacred by Hindus, who comprise 80% of the country's 1.2bn people.

Uttar Pradesh is among a number of Indian states who have tightened laws banning cow slaughter and the sale and consumption of beef.

The beef ban has also provoked outrage with many questioning how the government decides what is on their plate.

Mr Akhlaq's family said the family had stored mutton, and not beef in their fridge. The police have taken the meat and sent it for testing, reports said.

"Some locals spread rumours that Akhlaq had cow meat at his home and engaged in cow slaughter. Following the rumours, they attacked his home," senior local official NP Singh told The Indian Express newspaper.

Senior police official Kiran S told the AFP news agency that the "announcement about the family consuming beef was made at a [local] temple".

The incident happened in a village, barely 50km (31 miles) away from the Indian capital, Delhi, where Mr Akhlaq, a farm worker, lived with his family.

His 18-year-old daughter Sajida told the newspaper that a "group of more than 100 people from the village" reached the house on Monday night.

"They accused us of keeping cow meat, broke down our doors and started beating my father and brother. My father was dragged outside the house and beaten with bricks," she said.
"We had come to know later that an announcement had been made from the temple about us eating beef...There was some mutton in the fridge...The police have taken it for examination."

Reports said local villagers, protesting against the arrests, had clashed with the police, and damaged a number of vehicles.
Eleven states - including Uttar Pradesh - and two union territories (federally-administered regions) in India ban slaughter of cows, calves, bulls and bullocks

This guy bought Google.com from Google for one minute (GOOG, GOOGL)

Ex-Googler Sanmay Ved was the lucky buyer of Google.com, if only for a minute.
Ved told Business Insider he was up late and searching Google Domains, Google's website buying service, when he noticed Google.com was available. Instead of a gray sad face that indicates a domain has an owner, the green happy face showed it was available.

The cost to buy the most-trafficked domain in the world? Only $12

 I used to work at Google so I keep messing around with the product. I type in Google.com and to my surprise it showed it as available," Ved told Business Insider. "I thought it was some error, but I could actually complete check out."

Ved added it to his shopping cart and, surprisingly, the transaction went through.
Instead of receiving the normal "you bought a domain" emails from the company, his Google Search Console dashboard, which has an overview of his other websites, was updated with messages for the Google.com domain owner. He also received emails with internal information, which he's since reported to Google's security team, Ved said.

"The scary part was I had access to the webmaster controls for a minute," Ved said. He frantically took screenshots along the way and detailed the whole ordeal in a LinkedIn post.
His run of Google.com was short-lived though. Google Domains canceled the sale a minute later, saying someone had registered the site before he could, and refunded Ved the $12 that had already been charged.

"So for one minute I had access," Ved said. "At least I can now say I’m the man who owned Google.com for a minute."

Ved is not sure what happened to allow him to purchase the site. It could have been a bug in Google Domains or the company simply failed to renew its domain name when the time came. A Google spokesperson said they are looking into the issue, but aren't currently noticing anything unusual.
Google's not the first to run into weird domain problems. In 2003, Microsoft failed to renew its
Hotmail.co.uk web address, and someone else bought it. While in Google's case it was bought from

Google itself and quickly canceled, Microsoft had to ask the buyer to return it to them.

While Ved's control over Google.com may have been fleeting, he's still surprised that his late night searching led to actually buying the site. He's been a huge fan of the company since he worked there for five-and-a-half years before leaving to get his MBA. His profile picture on Facebook is just a picture of the Google Plus logo.

"I can’t shake that feeling that I actually owned Google.com," Ved said.